


Take shelter

by energie_vie



Series: Magnetic [6]
Category: The Old Guard (Comics), The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Minor Andy Quynh Nicky Joe, Nightmares, POV Nile Freeman, Post-Movie: The Old Guard (2020), Slow Burn, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:27:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27541555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/energie_vie/pseuds/energie_vie
Summary: "Booker doesn't say anything, an indecipherable look in his eyes and Nile is beginning to feel awkward. It was just a nightmare, she didn't need to barge into their room and invade his bed. She's not a child anymore."
Relationships: Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Nile Freeman
Series: Magnetic [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1987831
Comments: 20
Kudos: 127





	Take shelter

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so, in my head, this series is kind of a prequel to the [Gooey](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1983568) series, so if you'd prefer to "jump ahead in time" a bit, that one is focused on their already established relationship and is rated M throughout because Nile and Booker are both very tactile people (and I'll leave it at that).
> 
> In case you haven't been around my neck of the woods before, I'm updating both series depending on how inspiration hits and I'm trying as much as I can to make all works standalone ones. Basically, go wild and read in whatever order you want, it will still make sense :D 
> 
> As usual, title taken from Take Shelter by Years And Years.
> 
> EDIT: cover art at the end of the story by the wonderful StarWatcher.

They circle the compound, Booker going towards the left and Nile towards the right and they meet ten minutes later in the exact same spot.

'How many?' Booker asks.

'Two. I took care of them. You?'

'One at the gate. Sorted.'

Nile frowns. Something doesn't really add up.

'Don't you find it weird there were only three guards? _And_ during nighttime?'

Booker just shrugs. 'How about we count our blessings?' he says, pulling out the pliers from one of his vest pockets and starting to work on the chain link fence.

'I guess,' Nile admits reluctantly.

'Besides,' he continues, 'the easier it is to get to the main building, the sooner we grab the blueprints and the faster we scram.'

Booker is done with the fence, so he crawls through the hole and Nile follows quickly, though she's still feeling uneasy without being able to explain why. Call it a gut feeling but something's really off and she thoroughly regrets agreeing to this job without any help from the others.

The compound is eerily quiet, almost as if it were deserted and it makes her anxious to get this over with as soon as possible.

'Seb, how come there's no one around?' she whispers when they reach the main building, backs against the wall and eyes scrutinising all directions. 'Don't you think it's strange? What if it's a trap?'

'Well, we're about to find out,' he says, creeping towards the door and reaching for the handle.

'You can't expect it to be open!' she whispers-shouts.

To her shock, it actually is. Booker turns to her and grins.

'Well, what do you know? I'm going in, cover me.'

'Seb, wait!' she calls, the same gut feeling from earlier telling her that something is about to go disastrously wrong, but Booker won't listen, waving his hand dismissively.

The second he steps in there's a giant blast and Nile can see him flying backwards through the air, landing in a crumpled heap about twenty metres away.

'Fuck!' she grits, getting on one knee and aiming her AR towards the door. Nobody's coming out. She counts to a hundred and then turns towards Booker. He hasn't moved.

'Seb?' she calls and it echoes loudly around the compound as if she were in a cave. No answer, so she runs and kneels next to him, AR forgotten somewhere behind her.

'Seb, wake up! Come on, we gotta go!'

Booker's not moving, so she grabs him by his vest and shakes him forcefully.

'Seb, come on, wake up!'

He's limp and pale and Nile checks for a pulse, hoping he's just unconscious. She feels nothing and she starts to panic.

'Seb, please, you can't do this to me! Wake up, please!'

She's touching his face and his arms and a distant part of her brain wonders how come there's no blood, but then why doesn't he wake up already and it makes no sense at all, so she starts shaking him again, shaking and pleading and she doesn't even realise that she's started crying.

'Seb, come back to me, please! Come back to me! Seb, please! Come back to-'

She wakes up with a start, gasping for air and she doesn't really know where she is. It's too dark in the room and while she waits impatiently for her eyes to adjust, she grabs the blanket and twists hard to calm her shaking hands.

A couple of seconds later, reality rushes back to her. They're in Ghana and she's sharing a room with Andy and Quynh. The boys are in the other room, their most common sleeping arrangement. Then she remembers yesterday's mission: hostages held in a compound not unlike the one in her dream, but heavily guarded. A lot of shooting, a lot of blood. Quynh dying. Joe dying, twice. Booker dying. Well that explains it. She tries to close her eyes but the only thing she can see is Booker's ashen face and empty eyes staring at the night sky.

Her heart is still beating wildly and she still feels like she doesn't have enough air and it's a wonder she hasn't woken Quynh or Andy up. She needs to get out of this bed, _now_ , so she pushes the blanket aside, tiptoeing out of the room. There must be a storm outside because now that blood isn't pounding in her ears anymore she can hear the wind howling and rain pelting against the windows and the tin roof. So that's why Andy and Quynh didn't hear her. All the better, they need to rest, especially Quyhn.

Nile doesn't really register what she's doing until she finds herself in front of the boys' room. It's childish and foolish but she really needs to hear Booker's voice, to make sure he's ok, safe, _alive_ , irrational as it may be. She turns the handle slowly and when she pushes the door open, it creaks a little. She slides silently in the room only to be met with Nicky's eyes, wide open and trained on her. Of course he's heard her, even with the storm outside, because the man has the hearing of a fucking bat and he already has his hand on his gun, ready to aim at the intruder.

Nile gives him a weak smile, feeling guilty for having woken him up and puts her index finger on her lips. She's about to selfishly disturb Booker's sleep but that doesn't mean Joe needs to be a collateral victim. Nicky looks at her for a good few seconds, then nods and closes his eyes, snuggling deeper into Joe's arms.

Now that she's actually in the room, Nile is not entirely sure what to do next, so she starts with getting closer to Booker's bed. He's sleeping on his right side, back against the wall and she hesitates for the briefest of moments before pulling the blanket aside and climbing in his bed, lying down to face him. The moment he feels the mattress dip his eyes shoot open and his hand flies under his pillow, presumably for his gun. 

'Shh, it's me,' Nile whispers, watching him relax and then frown in confusion. 

'What's wrong? Did something happen? Are you ok?' he fires in the same breath, concern painted all over his features.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you,' she says abashedly.

'It's ok. What's the matter?'

'I had a bad dream,' she says in a small voice. 

Booker doesn't say anything, an indecipherable look in his eyes and Nile is beginning to feel awkward. It was just a nightmare, she didn't need to barge into their room and invade his bed. She's not a child anymore, this is stupid and lame and she honestly expects him to roll his eyes and snort but instead, he pulls her close and hugs her tightly, dropping a kiss on her braids.

'I'm sorry, sweetheart,' he murmurs softly. 'Do you wanna tell me about it?'

Face pressed to his neck, Nile just shakes her head and fists his T-shirt. She can hear his heart beating steadily, can feel his chest rising and falling and his large hands splayed on her back and for the first time since she woke up, she takes a deep breath and her lungs expand easily and painlessly.

The silence stretches soothingly, accompanied by the storm outside that only seems to be getting stronger and interrupted occasionally by the rustle of sheets coming from Joe and Nicky's bed.

'Do you remember the club with the pool inside?' Booker asks after an indefinite amount of time. 

'The one you almost fell into after the fifth tequila shot in a row?' she giggles quietly.

'Yes, but that's not why I'm asking,' he mutters and Nile is willing to bet her left arm that he's pursing his lips unhappily. 'Remember that song they played that you said you hadn't heard since you were a kid?'

'Mhm. Why?'

'I may have coerced the DJ into playing it,' he mumbles.

'You what?' Nile exclaims, pulling back to stare at him and Booker widens his eyes and shushes her. 'What do you mean, you coerced him? When? Why?'

'So many questions,' he huffs, rolling his eyes.

'Feel free to take them one at a time,' she deadpans. 

'Ok. Not important. Not relevant. Because when you showed it to me, in the car.. Remember, we were stuck in traffic on our way back to Bucharest? You said it reminded you of your father, that you used to dance together on it. I wanted to make you happy,' he says simply, shrugging one shoulder.

And it _had_ made her happy. She remembers her eyes welling with tears but grinning widely and all but jumping on Booker, hugging him excitedly. Now he's looking at her and even in the darkness she can see a million emotions swirling in his eyes. Fuck if this doesn't make her fall for him a bit more.

'You're amazing,' she says instead of all the mushy things she could say that she knows she won't be able to hold back for much longer. 

'You make it so easy to believe,' he sighs. 

'That's because it's true, Seb,' she smiles. 'I can also see what you did with this little story.'

Booker actually has the audacity to look innocent. 'I've no idea what you're talking about,' he says neutrally.

' _This is what we'll reminisce upon when we're stuck in a cave while outside there's a hurricane…_ Something along these lines.'

'I knew you'd remember,' he chuckles, looking almost proud.

'We're not in a cave and it's only a storm but you were right. So, thank you. For the memory.'

'Always, my dear,' Booker says gently and they both fall quiet again.

'You died,' she says quietly a couple of minutes later.

'I know,' he chuckles again. 'I was there.'

'In my dream. You died. And you wouldn't wake up, no matter how much I begged you to come back.' Booker stays quiet, so she carries on. 'The funny thing is, in my dream I kept thinking that something was off, that it felt strange that things were going so smoothly. Guess I'm now hardwired to always expect the worst,' she sighs.

'I will always come back to you,' Booker says after a few more seconds of silence.

'Promise?'

'I promise.'

Nile nods and closes her eyes. She's tired, as if she hadn't slept at all since they finished the mission. 

'Turn around,' Booker says softly and when she does, he pulls her close, one arm around her waist and legs tangled together.

'Good night, darling!'

'Night, Seb!' she whispers, grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly. She falls asleep smiling when he intertwines his fingers with hers.

\---

**Author's Note:**

> You can also find me on [Tumblr](https://energievie.tumblr.com/) in case you wanna say hi :)


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